What We Do

The vision of the Department of Sociology at Rice University is to advance knowledge of social processes and patterns, mentor a diverse set of scholars and students, and teach the state of the art in the field, engaging in service to the university, the discipline, and the larger community.

Postdoctoral Program

Beginning in 2002, the Department of Sociology at Rice University established a postdoctoral program with the intent of providing two years of research support for promising new and early career sociology scholars. Postdoctoral fellows also benefit from Riceâ€™s state-of-the-art facilities and internationally renowned centers and institutes.

Our Academic Programs

The Rice Sociology undergraduate program allows considerable latitude in pursuing personal interests while ensuring familiarity with core sociological theories and research methods.The Rice Sociology doctoral program prepares students to be sociologists of the highest quality, able to conduct cutting edge research and to teach with excellence.

What We Do

The vision of the Department of Sociology at Rice University is to advance knowledge of social processes and patterns, mentor a diverse set of scholars and students, and teach the state of the art in the field, engaging in service to the university, the discipline, and the larger community.

Postdoctoral Program

Beginning in 2002, the Department of Sociology at Rice University established a postdoctoral program with the intent of providing two years of research support for promising new and early career sociology scholars. Postdoctoral fellows also benefit from Riceâ€™s state-of-the-art facilities and internationally renowned centers and institutes.

Our Academic Programs

The Rice Sociology undergraduate program allows considerable latitude in pursuing personal interests while ensuring familiarity with core sociological theories and research methods.The Rice Sociology doctoral program prepares students to be sociologists of the highest quality, able to conduct cutting edge research and to teach with excellence.

Bridget Gorman (Ph.D., Sociology and Demography, 2000, Pennsylvania State University) is Professor and (starting July 1 2018) Dean of Undergraduates at Rice University. As a sociologist and demographer, Bridget is interested in how social conditions and experiences shape group differences in health and well-being among children and adults. During her career she has organized her research efforts to examine disparities in morbidity, physical functioning, and medical care use across major U.S. demographic groups â€“ particularly racial/ethnic, nativity, gender, and sexuality groups. She is interested not only in how men vs. women, minorities vs. whites, and the foreign vs. native born differ in health outcomes, but also how these social categories intersect to shape health outcomes (e.g., black women vs. white men, heterosexual men vs. gay men). A guiding framework for her work is that health disparities are driven by fundamental social causes (e.g., socioeconomic status, social integration and support) that underlie and shape group differences in health outcomes. She has built a substantial body of research, with over 40 peer-reviewed articles published in a variety of highly-ranked sociology, demography, and public health journals. Bridget is also an acclaimed teacher and has won multiple awards for teaching, mentoring, and service to the undergraduate student body since starting at Rice University in the fall of 2002.

Gorman, Bridget K., Claire E. Altman, and Sergio Chavez. 2017. â€śUS Migration Experience and Mental Health Status among Adult Men and Women Living in Mexico.â€ť Migration and Health, 2017. Edited by the National Population Council of Mexico and the University of California UC-Mexico Initiative Health Working Group and the Health Initiative of the Americas, UC Berkeley School of Public Health.

Gorman, Bridget K., Becky Wade*, and Alexa Solazzo. 2016. â€śWomen Go and Men Stay Home? Gender and the Utilization of Preventive Medical Care among Asian and Latino Adults.â€ťÂ Research in the Sociology of Health Care 34: 99-134.